Former New York Mayor Michael Bloomberg is donating $ 1.8 billion to his alma mater, Johns Hopkins University.

Bloomberg and the Baltimore university said Sunday that the gift is the largest ever to any education institution in the U.S.

University President Ronald Daniels is calling the gift “transformative.” He says the contribution will allow Hopkins starting next fall to eliminate student loans in financial aid packages and commit to admitting the highest-achieving students regardless of ability to pay.

Bloomberg says America is at its best when it rewards people “based on the quality of their work, not the size of their pocketbook.”

The 76-year-old founder of the global finances services company Bloomberg L.P. is among the world’s richest people. He is also weighing a run for president in 2020.